Okay, clickbait headline, but this had me rolling on the floor. Last week President Trump tweeted out concern for states that may be hit by the hurricane. He included Alabama in that tweet, which of course was incorrect, and he took a bunch of flak for it on social media and in the press. Indeed, the National Weather Center – Alabama had to issue a correction to avoid panic in the state.
Today, he pulls out a forecast of the hurricane’s track from last week and attempts to show that, yes, it really did show that it might hit Alabama. Only – the semicircle cone that showed it reaching Alabama was fake – it was drawn on with a Sharpie. A reporter asked Trump whether he altered the map he showed in the Oval Office and he didn’t deny it. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know,” he said. How could this sad episode possibly get more embarrassing?
Well, here’s how: it’s actually a crime to falsify a weather forecast. Here’s U.S. Code, Title: 18, Section: 2074 on False Weather Reports: “Whoever knowingly issues or publishes any counterfeit weather forecast or warning of weather conditions falsely representing such forecast or warning to have been issued or published by the Weather Bureau, United States Signal Service, or other branch of the Government service, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both.”
There you have it, folks. Trump and his Sharpie have committed a crime – impeach now!
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 